In Canada, General Mills, owner of the Honey Nut Cheerios trademark, has decided to put away their bee-mascot from packaging for some weeks. This way, they aim to make their customers be aware of the massive bee death. They offer free wildflowers seeds to every Canadian to bring back the bees.
Have a look to #bringbackthebees (in English) or ramenonslesabeilles (en français)
This initiative relies on a 2013 TED talk video by Maria Spivak, a bee specialist at Minnesota University (USA). Recent data show a better bee health than told in the talk. In addition, Maria Spivak feed a disputable argument against neonicotinoids. But she stresses the essential role of a diversified and abundant food to make bees happy and healthy..
For sure, it’s also an easy way for promoting the trademark Cheerios. A kind of « greenwashing » in a way.
But this effort to make young people active in a positive way for bee health and well-being may be appreciated.
One could encourage European retail companies to act the same way, instead of inflicting new non-regulatory, non-realistic and counterproductive requirements everyday to growers.